#Count basie big band plus#

He toured constantly, made classic albnums with several singers, including Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan, but his finest vocal discs feature the band's original Kansas City blues shouter Jimmy Rushing, or his post-war equivalent, the urbane Joe Williams. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the Big Band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984. With this band Basie continued to be one of the most influential and popular of all bandleaders right up until the time of his death. The Count Basie Orchestra is an American big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Star sidemen included trumpeters Joe Newman and Thad Jones, and saxophonists Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Frank Foster and Frank Wess.

#Count basie big band plus#

This had brilliant arrangements by Neal Hefti, Buster Harding and Ernie Wilkins, plus a new breed of soloist who combined bebop ideas with a sense of blues and swing. The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent Jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by William James Count. Its real strength was its rhythm section with drummer Jo Jones, bassist Walter Page and guitarist Freddie Green joining Basie's minimalist piano to produced an unparalleled mastery of swing.Д«asie led this big band until the end of the 1940s, when economics forced him to reduce to an octet, but in the early 1950s he once more formed a big band - known as his 'New Testament' group. Its soloists included trumpeters Buck Clayton and Sweets Edison, and saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans. In the history of Jazz music, Count Basie is the only bandleader who has the distinction of having his orchestra still performing sold out concerts all over. Box office closes 30 minutes after all show times. Box Office Hours: Wednesday Friday 10am 6pm. Entrepreneur John Hammond heard the band on a broadcast, and helped bring Basie to New York in 1937, where his group became famous. Count Basie Center for the Arts 99 Monmouth Street Red Bank, NJ 07701. He led his own band in the after hours clubs of Kansas City, and he became famous for its robust style, built on the blues. There he played in some of the famous 'territory' bands, who toured the Midwest - Walter Page's Blue Devils and Bennie Moten's Orchestra. Around 1923, Basie went on the road with a travelling revue, and it was while backing another touring show that he fetched up in Kansas City in 1927. He also learned the organ alongside his contemporary Fats Waller. One of the most famous of all big band leaders, Basie grew up in New Jersey, and started out playing New York's fashionable 'stride' style of piano.